


Waiting

by twilitty (curiouslym)



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 23:53:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30063477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiouslym/pseuds/twilitty
Summary: Following the birth of Renesmee, the Cullen family seems to split in their own directions. This follows the lives of each character as they interconnect. Rosalie and Emmett want to start a family together and Alice has found a way. Bella struggles with the truth of her new life.// headcanons:Renesmee does not age quickly as she does in canonJacob has not imprinted on Nessie//
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Kudos: 6





	1. Plane Tickets

Edward is late, again. Rosalie is standing in the foyer of the Cullens main home, the windows tinted with the dark guise of twilight and eerily dry. It seems to be the one day of the year it hasn’t rained. She’s dressed in an outfit curated by her fashion-oriented sister. All designer, of course. Yet, her jeans have creases around the knees and upper thighs, her sweater sleeves rolled up past her elbows in a way that would make her sister cringe. Her hair had started out in a casual ponytail but is now laying around her shoulders in frizzy waves. It’s the carefree disarray of a new mom's wardrobe.  
Then, like the angel of messes, Nessie sits in her arms snoring lightly. Her cheek, soft and warm, is against Rose’s collarbone and has been for the last twenty minutes. Rose had happily agreed to watch Nessie while her father went off to feed. Bella was at a business meeting in Port Angeles, a monthly occurrence that the family seemed to consciously not discuss. Edward was supposed to be back forty minutes ago, which was coincidentally also the exact time that the little angel was throwing a tantrum and pulling Roses' hair. But, Rosalie doesn’t mind watching her. She enjoys the thick teardrops that roll down her puffy cheeks when she gets mad and the melted ice cream that coats the front of Nessie’s shirt after a snack. And as soon as she starts to get fussy it seems that Rose is the only one who can truly calm her down. It’s strange, being so involved in this child when she barely has any rights to her.  
Emmett is upstairs, packing the last of their suitcases and making sure the room is in order. This is why Rosalie is frustrated with Edwards' lateness, he was going to make them miss their flight. It also just happened to be her luck that the rest of the family is happily distracted when she needs them.  
Alice and Jasper had left days ago for somewhere in South America, Alice claiming that she just had to be there and not giving a date for return. She had, instead, also bought Rose and Emmett a one-way ticket to a small airport an hour outside of Brazil. The travelling was not uncommon of the couple, Alice moving as she pleases and Jasper following without question. Maybe it was his devotion to her, or maybe it was the uncomfortable silence that always followed him throughout the house. In a group of vampires, it’s difficult to find a point of discussion that isn’t based on the past, and the family is not one to tolerate Jasper's discussion of the past.  
That leaves two people left to watch Nessie as Rose and Emmett catch their flight: Esme and Carlisle. Carlisle picked up a job in Seattle, working overnight at a care clinic for the elderly. He never said it, but Rose just knew that it was because he had similar interests to the seniors he cared for. She had overheard him telling Esme one night that he almost wishes he aged into his forties so that he could hold a conversation and base it on his experience, not say his grandfather told him stories. Esme was with Carlisle in Seattle, she funded a series of group homes for at-risk youth and occasionally would go and meet with the kids. If only she was here to watch her grandchild.  
“Rose,” it was Emmett at the top of the stairs. He was whispering, thankfully. He had probably heard Nessie snoring and knew not to wake her. He saw her temper tantrum the last time someone woke her up from a nap and was not looking to face it any time soon. “I have the things packed.” Rose looked over her shoulder at the staircase just in time to see him appear at the bottom, two suitcases at his feet and a neck pillow cradling his head.  
All it took was a raise of her eyebrows for him to fall into a defensive position. Palms facing her, he approached quietly. “I wanna look the part,” he explained.  
“Your neck doesn’t cramp,” she retorted with a smirk. She wouldn’t be able to talk him out of the dumb pillow, the same way she wasn’t able to talk him out of sunscreen the last time they went to Bora Bora.  
“But tourists' necks cramp, why else would they sell these things?” He went up to the main door, opening it and looking outside. “It’s not like the pillow industry is trying to scam vampires.” Rosalie doesn’t have to ask him what he’s looking for, the tenseness in his shoulders tells her enough. He doesn't want to miss their plane and wants Edward to get here already. Out of all the Cullens, Emmett is the most frugal. He hates wasting money.  
He closes the door softly and turns to his wife and their niece, taking off the dumb pillow and tossing it onto the suitcases. A smile cracks open across his face. “Can I?” She nods and his knuckles brush against her chest as he gingerly brings the toddler up to cradle her. His large arms seem brutal next to Nessie, her tiny frame nearly disappears as he hugs her to his chest. Her head lolls onto his shoulder, snores breaking for a moment as she sighs in content. His eyes dance in the light, looking down at her as she sleeps peacefully in his arms.  
Rosalie has always loved Emmett, but the first time she saw him holding their niece, the way he carefully smiled with his mouth closed and crouched to seem smaller, that was when she knew they would have a family. Emmett was initially afraid of scaring the baby, afraid he would seem too big compared to the rest of the family. Like a giant. He would talk quietly around her, always making sure to hide his teeth when he smiled and sit on the floor when she played.  
A movement pulls Rose from her thoughts. So quickly that a human would have missed it, the door opens and closes, the child blinks awake at the noise. Edward stands beside Rosalie, his shoulders slouched forward and his mouth pulled up into a painful smile. “Rose,” he nods to her, “Emmett,” he nods to his brother.  
Emmett ducks down quickly towards the little girl, pressing his lips to the back of her head as she looks over at her father. “Nessie has a lot to show you,” he says with a laugh. His heart isn’t in it. Edward must read it in his mind and politely disregards it because he strides up to his daughter and lifts her out of her uncle's arms.  
Nessie plants a hand on her father's cheek, his smile widening as he watches a play by play of her afternoon.  
Regretting her earlier wishes of Edward coming home, Rosalie speaks to break the moment. “We’re leaving. We were supposed to have left forty minutes ago but somebody must have never developed an interest in punctuality.” She receives a glare from Edward, his jaw rolling forward in what must be residue annoyance from some other event.  
Emmett notices this, “Bella spoken to you?”  
“Yes.” He jostles his daughter, raising her so that she can play with his shirt collar. He doesn’t say anything else.  
“Well, Rose and I are heading out so we’ll see you later,” Emmett says jovially, waving a hand at his favourite- and only- niece. She waves back with vigour, a toothy smile spread across her dimpled cheeks. Her father only watches with mild disinterest, his thoughts clearly occupied by some other matter.  
They grab their suitcases quickly, Rose planting a sweet kiss on the little girl's cheek as they pass by towards the door. 

Against Emmett's pleading, they’re taking Rosalie's car. She had a difficult time understanding why taking his giant Jeep, suited for off-roading, would be ideal for travelling to the airport.  
“Are you okay?” She asks him, turning the key in the ignition and driving out of the garage into the night. He hadn’t said anything as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk, and when she turned on talk radio he didn’t complain or try to change the station. All abnormal.  
“I’m gonna miss her,” he pauses, his adam's apple bobbing, “I hope she doesn’t change while we are gone.”  
“I know, me too.” Rosalie doesn’t try to alleviate his anxiety, she knows it would be a lie to tell him Nessie would look the same when they get back. She’ll probably be a little longer, her teeth larger, maybe she’ll have new interests. Every change they miss will hurt them both.  
“But we’ve got to go.” His voice is hard, finality ringing through it as if he’s trying to convince himself.  
“We’ve got to.” She agrees softly. 

They pull into a parking spot near the front entrance of the airport just in time to make their plane. Her phone rings after takeoff, the face of her sister smiling up at her from the screen. “Alice?”  
“Rose, tell me you’re on your way.” The girl says hurriedly, excitement layering her words.  
“Emmett and I are on the plane now,” she responds. Emmett looks over at her curiously, neck pillow adorned.  
“Jasper and I have a lead.” She then goes to rattle off the details of their current location and where they will be tomorrow night. The phone hangs up.  
Emmett's face is reserved, but the corners of his lips are twitching with barely contained happiness. “A baby?”  
Rosalie’s pale hand comes up to cradle his cheek, her pink lips turning up at the corners. “Yes, a baby.”


	2. Mr.Darcy

It took everything out of Bella to not draw attention to herself. She had dressed in sweatpants and a ratty sweatshirt that she had to hide in the back of her closet so Alice couldn’t find it. Yet still, people stared at her. This was one thing Bella doubted she would ever get used to: the attention.  
She liked to lay low, fly under the radar, get lost in the crowd. But, that hasn’t happened to her since her human days. Well, it hasn’t really happened to her since Phoenix. It seemed that Forks high school thought she was the best thing around and quickly she had a band of boys vying for her attention.   
She’s walking down a busy side street in Port Angeles, she hadn’t lied about where she was going. The entire family knows she is in the city, they just don’t know why- except for Alice- and decidedly choose not to ask her about it. She appreciates the faux privacy they give her. It’s difficult living with a family who had supernatural hearing abilities, every whispered argument with her new husband was put on display for all to discuss in private.   
Port Angeles is her monthly retreat from the Cullens, who seemed to be her only socialization after she awoke as a vampire. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy spending time with them, she loves them all dearly, but most conversations revert back to time periods from before she was born. She was never a fan of history class.  
Port Angeles was nowhere near as large as other cities, but it was close to home and she doesn’t like leaving her daughter for long periods of time.   
The street is littered with tourists in heavy backpacks, maps under their noses. The maps are unnecessary, each street has clear signage and you can always cut through alleyways to the next street over if you need to move fast. She can’t imagine how anybody could get lost among these streets and then scolds herself immediately. She had gotten lost in these streets. Her human self was used to getting lost and falling into the lap of trouble. She hates forgetting about her old self.   
Her shoulder bag bumps her hip with every step, inside her car keys, wallet, and a hardcover book. It’s a battered copy of Pride and Prejudice, the edges of the stiff covers frayed with time and use. The words inside bore the stains of past tears, tears she would never shed again. She remembers the last time she cried over these pages, sitting on Charlie's beat-up couch with her wet hair tied up in a towel atop her head. She couldn’t stop thinking of Edward. This was before they had come together and stayed together. She had hoped that his behaviour was an imitation of Mr.Darcy’s. Hopefully, he was just pretending to dislike her because he didn’t know how to work through his true emotions, ultimately her hopes came true, but at the time she felt empty.   
Empty from caring too much and empty from being let down yet another time. A new town she didn’t want to be in, and the one bright side seemed to hate her, how is she supposed to cope with that? She had treated herself with a bowl of ice cream after her hot shower, curling up in a quilt that seemed older than her and reading Jane Austen yet again.   
Every time Darcy entered a scene another fat tear would drop onto the page, marking the exact spot she thought of the cruel bronze-haired boy. A boy so beautiful her heart wanted to sing, yet every time he looked at her with that same disdain she couldn’t help but feel torn apart all over again. How could one human stand so much torment?  
A part of her, small and insignificant, sits in her gut and wishes for tears. Wants some physical expression of her emotions. But, that won’t happen.   
The street winds to the right, groups of teenagers clustered outside of an indie coffee shop and giggling amongst each other. Idly she wonders, how is Angela doing? But the thought disappears as quickly as it comes and she finds herself at the end of the street with a four-way stop in front of her.   
She takes the right turn, sneakers scuffing as she lets her heels drag a little with every step. Humans never walk evenly, there is always something to unbalance their gait and mark their shoes. Alice would rather die a million deaths than see Bella purposefully mistreat her shoes, even if they’re knock-offs she bought at an outlet mall.   
A couple of buildings down, all cement and brick, is the public library. It’s poorly funded and the lighting inside is horrendous. The windows need to be resealed and the doors squeak like mice. She loves it. She enters into the drafty lobby, a bulletin board shows all the events this month, a book club is scheduled for today at noon. She checks her watch, 11:47.   
The next doors lead into the children's section where parents and toddlers sit in a semicircle at the back wall, a poorly constructed stage is used to recreate a story with hand puppets. “Save me!” She hears one of the socks yell out, a few children gasp and her steps slow to a stop. A child sitting up close to the stage has brown hair braided down her back in uneven strips. Her giggles stand out from every other child's gasps of horror. Beside her sits an identical little boy, his brown skin shining just like his sisters.   
“Don’t worry,” the little girl whispers into his ear, “the princess has a happy ending.” The boy looks up at her with big doe eyes, his nose sniffling. “I promise,” she says. Then, as if feeling that someone is watching, she turns around and faces Bella from across the wide room.   
They look at each other, the human and the vampire, the child and the woman, the hunted and the hunter. Her, Bella thinks absently, her senses slow to a dull, focused only on the soft thudding of the little girl's heart. She is so beautiful. The girl watches her, wide eyes blinking as she takes in the woman staring at her without seeming to notice it. Then, she raises a dark palm, waving it at the woman.  
Bellas senses surge back into her, noises and colours and scents slam into her like a wall and she almost feels the need to take a steadying breath. The girl continues to wave, her little brother looking over his shoulder to see who she’s looking at.   
Walking quickly and a little dazed, Bella makes her way to the staircase and closes the door behind her. She takes a deep, unnecessary breath which does nothing more than fill her lungs. Her chest sits hollow, no movement unless she forces it and no beating of a heart. She wonders idly what would happen if she was opened up, would they find her heart still intact? Did the venom solidify it like the rest of her or is it just simply gone?   
“Isabella!” It’s Nancy, she’s at the top of the stairs holding a book to her chest. She’s an older woman, maybe sixty-five, with beautiful grey hair cut into a sleek bob at her shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re here, and looking stylish as always!” Bella just nods with what she hopes is a warm smile, she had heard and smelt Nancy above before she heard her but still widens her eyes to make it seem surprising.   
Coming from anybody else, calling Bella “stylish” for wearing sweatpants would have been sarcastic. Maybe a joke about how she always looks beautiful. But not from Nancy. Nancy is too kind, she likely has never said a poor word to anybody.   
“Thank you,” Bella responds. Taking the stairs up, Nancy has already started talking again. Bella's mind has a difficult time abandoning the little girl in front of the stage. The girl's heartbeat thuds in her ears, carrying through the thick metal door and up the stairs. She isn’t sure if she can still hear it or if her mind is just playing it back on a loop.  
“All the ladies are already here, you’re the last to join us.” She continues to talk about who is here and who can’t make it. Someone brought lemon squares and someone else had snuck in orange juice and a bottle of champagne for mimosas. It’s a wonder the book club hasn’t been kicked out of the library permanently, it seems every month they are receiving another infraction for bringing in food and drinks.   
The book club meets once a month to discuss the book they were supposed to read, this week it’s Pride and Prejudice. The room they reserve is tucked into the back left corner of the library, the carpet is dingy and the walls that were once white are closer to yellow. Bella loves this room.  
The ladies are all already sitting in a semicircle, a low table in the center is covered in treats and large glasses filled with a sweet-smelling drink. A large bottle of champagne sits next to it. “Isabella!” A few of them call out as she enters the room with Nancy. She greets them happily, smiling widely.  
“Alright, so this month we read Pride and Prejudice!” A few women whoop at that, giggling and whispering amongst each other. “Now, now,” Dhruvi chastises lightly. She’s the club leader, she makes sure the discussion doesn't get carried away. “Who wants to share their first reactions to Mr.Darcy?”  
Bella's mind runs faster than any computer, her words and actions are usually well thought through before she reacts, which is why she takes herself off guard when she responds so quickly. She hadn’t even known she had something to add. “I think he was acting a little cruel.” Bella’s voice says without her knowing. All eyes are immediately on her, apparently none of them agreed because their eyes are wide as saucers.  
“How could you say that?” A woman pipes up, her bushy eyebrows knitted atop her wrinkled forehead. “He loves Elizabeth.”  
“Yeah,” Bella says slowly, her mind whirring but not producing anything. “But that doesn’t mean he can treat her like he doesn’t care for her. He should have been open with his feelings at the start, not play stupid mind games with her.”  
The room is quiet, the air dripping in what can only be suppressed judgement and mild concern from the old women. Bella notices this, takes a few looks around the circle and swallows her pride. “I’m sorry,” she enunciates, each syllable crisp with her obvious discomfort. “I guess I’m just projecting my life onto the story.”  
“Is it your husband, dear?” It’s Nancy, sitting three women down from her and giving her a soft smile. Her skin is wrinkled, her eyes creasing in a motherly way. Bella’s vocal cords refuse to work, and even if they were functioning she has no idea what to say. None of the women speak and instead watch Bella work the question over in her mind.  
Even though Bella could have thought this over in the bare breath of a second, she takes a minute to truly think it over. Was it her husband? Edward who loved her, who she loved? They had a child together, they were both immortal. She served up her human life on a platter and asked him to throw it away. No, it wasn’t her husband. Their relationship was perfect, picturesque, the happy ending everybody always knew they would get.  
“My wife,” starts Dhruvi with a heavy sigh, “does this to me sometimes, too.” Bella had met Dhruvi’s wife before, she was a kind woman with long black hair streaked with silver, her skin a nearly identical shade of brown to Dhruvi. “She will go days treating me like a guest in our home, not holding my hand or kissing me. We will eat breakfast at opposite ends of the table and make small talk. The entire time I think, ‘did I do something wrong? Has she abandoned her feelings for me?’ But, no.” She leans over onto her knees and the scent of her floral perfume fills Bella’s head. “The next night she will cook me dinner and kiss me and tell me I’m beautiful. And, yes that is nice but it is also sad like you said-” Bella never said that what Darcy did was sad, but in her head, she can see now that that word fits into her sentiment perfectly. “- because for a moment I questioned my wife’s love for me and that is very painful.”   
The room nods and murmurs in agreement, Nancy giving Bella a sad, pitying look the entire time. “I- I’m sorry about your wife not always being open about her feelings,” Bella starts, feeling like she’s being forced into giving confession. “But that’s not my Edward.”   
“Not mine either,” Nancy says quickly. “But when we met that was him. He was my Darcy in the way you described him. I love Patt now but at the time he would take me out on a date only to show up for class the next day with some new broad.” She shrugs her shoulders, “and that was cruel. He played mind games with me.” The grey-haired woman doesn’t seem upset by this, instead, she seems content with it. Stating it with resigned indifference.   
“But you’ve got him now!” A woman exclaims and that sends the room into an uproar of laughter. Bella’s is noticeably absent from the mixture. 

The group finishes their discussion about the book in just over an hour, a few women sneak snacks into their purses as they depart, giggly from all the champagne. Bella packages her novel into her bag and puts it over her shoulder. Dhruvi stands at the door, with a styrofoam plate of lemon squares, only three left.   
“Isabella, I’m sorry about your experiences with this month's novel.” She says it kindly, but also as if she’s digging for more information. Trying to reopen the discussion from earlier.   
“No, I enjoyed the book, really. It was quite romantic.” The words rush out of Bella, the last thing she wants to do is start this conversation all over again. Dhruvi laughs off her comment.  
“I’m considering hosting dinner at my home, I will be inviting a few of the women from this group and a few others you don’t know.” Bella’s silent heart has jumped into her throat. “Would you be interested in joining us?” What does she say? That she will go but won’t eat a single damn thing? Oh, sorry, I ate just before getting to your house for this prescheduled dinner. How awful is that, there is no way that she can go.   
“I don’t think I’ll be available that day.”  
“I didn’t mention the date,” the older woman says slowly, eyelids levelling down over her pupils as if searching for something in Bella. The vampire has no response to this. “Bring your husband,” she says finally, “I would like to meet him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you like this then you'll like my Tumblr @twilitty  
> thank you for reading xo

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this you'll also enjoy my Tumblr @twilitty. You can request fics, etc on there!


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